What You Need to Know Today: August 27

Good afternoon, Early Risers!

Here’s what you need to know

TECH

“IF you’re going to hire an assistant, make sure they are older and more responsible than you.” The first time I heard this advice was from Ryan Holiday, who credits Ramit Sethi. With Facebook’s official announcement of M today (remember their controversial unofficial announcement?), it seems appropriate to talk about virtual assistants (VAs): why you need one and how to train them. Who better to ask than a guy who’s written a blueprint on how to train them. Here’s a script you can use to teach your VA how to schedule your [doctor’s] appointments.

Death of the George Costanza Wallet. If you watched Seinfeld or have seen any dad ever pull out his wallet, you know what the George Costanza Wallet looks like. It’s cumbersome, terrible for your back, and exploding. One startup decided to solve this problem by creating one card for all your debit and credit cards. Introducing Coin.

CAREER

The truth about live seminars. “There I was, sitting in the back corner of this big conference room trying to hide from everyone. ‘What the heck did I get myself into,’ I murmured out loud. ‘I don’t belong here. Maybe I should leave and ask for my money back. Nobody will even know I am missing.’ These were the thoughts racing through my mind several years ago when I attended my first live seminar.” Going to live events can be terrifying. But the payoff can be huge, like for this young entrepreneur who shares the story of attending his first live seminar.

A local grocer literally turned this problem upside down. “Every grocer has to decide: when packing a quart of strawberries, should your people put the best ones on top? If you do, you’ll sell more and disappoint people when they get to the moldy ones on the bottom. Or, perhaps you could put the moldy ones on top, and pleasantly surprise the few that buy. Or, you could rationalize that everyone expects a little hype, and they’ll get over it.” One local grocer turned this problem upside down and here’s what happened.

Why you need to attach meaning to your money. “Close your eyes. Imagine $10,000. Now close your eyes again. This time, I want you to imagine a brand-new hot tub in your back yard, or a trip to Rome, or a year’s worth of groceries…” I think you know where this is going. It’s much easier to imagine experiences and physical purchases than it is money. But most people forget this when they’re setting goals for their business or career. Instead of saying you want to make an extra $1,000 a month, reframe your goal to reflect what that extra $1,000 will get you. Here’s a good article that explains how.

LIFESTYLE

Some of life’s greatest lessons come from this game. “It got me a girlfriend, it got me into college, it got me into graduate school, it got me my first job, it helped me raise money, it got my company sold, and it opens doors when previously they seemed locked to everyone around me,” says James Altucher.

Find what you love and let it kill you. Advice from an English concert pianist. If you’re a writer, artist, musician, or don’t want to die feeling like you never really expressed your creativity, you must read this.

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#NOWYOUKNOW

The Oxford Dictionary is NOT the same as The Oxford English Dictionary. The difference is The Oxford Dictionary is a branch of The Oxford Dictionaries that focuses on modern words.

The latest update to The Oxford Dictionary happened yesterday. Words like ‘butthurt’, ‘redditor’, and ‘fat-shame’ were added. Full list.

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Nick Papple is the Managing editor of Success Formula Daily and one of Early to Rise's youngest up and comers. Nick works closely with editor Craig Ballantyne, curating content, writing and editing essays for the daily newsletter. Nick has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph in Canada. Ge...